©FAO/Junior D. Kannah ©FAO/Junior

The Democratic The scale and scope of the humanitarian crisis has far surpassed expectations and projections for 2018 are alarming. Lives are at stake. It is Republic of the thus essential to continue responding to the immediate needs of the most vulnerable populations while focusing on long-term development solutions. Congo Humanitarian Objectives Response Plan FAO is working with partners in the Food Security Cluster to: 2017–2019 • Protect livelihoods in emergency situation, while enabling people to access food and agricultural land. • Support and restore livelihoods by strengthening households’ resilience to shock and disaster risks. to assist • Strengthen the ability of communities to establish and manage safety- 2.8 million people nets systems, including related to agricultural value chain. • Ensure Food Security Cluster coordination. FAO requires USD 90 million Activities period January – December 2018 Restore food production

nutrition training | short-cycle vegetable production | agricultural, fishery and livestock inputs | training on production techniques | cash transfers

Strengthen household resilience

caisses de résilience activities | community savings and loan schemes | reinforce financial capacities and access to credit for farmers’ groups and women’s associations | cash-for-work for planting trees and seed production | income-generating activities | climate adaptation and mitigation practices | land and road rehabilitation | post-harvest (process, For the huge number of preserve and market agricultural production) displaced and returnee families in the Democratic Prepare and partner , agriculture is the only sector early warning systems | information sharing | collect and analyse food security that simultaneously provides data | advocate and mobilize funds | integration of cross-cutting themes income, food and dignity. (gender, protection, accountability) | coordination among food security partners

FAO in the 2018 humanitarian appeals The Democratic Republic of the Congo Situation analysis Acute food insecurity situation (June – December 2017)

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 7.7 million people SUDAN Bas-Uele severely food insecure Nord-Ubangi Haut-Uele Sud-Ubangi Ituri

Tshopo DEMOCRATIC UGANDA REPUBLIC Équateur 1 in 8 severely malnourished OF THE CONGO Nord-Kivu

children in the world are Congolese RWANDA Mai-Ndombe Sud-Kivu BURUNDI

Kasaï Kwilu UNITED REPUBLIC Atlantic Kongo-Central OF TANZANIA 4.3 million IDPs Ocean Lomami Kasaï Central

Katanga IPC Phase Classification Kasaï Oriental Lualaba 74% of Congolese live on ZAMBIA Famine Minimal less than USD 1.25 a day Haut-Katanga Emergency Not analysed 0 100 km Crisis Insufficient data

75% of rural families rely on Stressed agriculture for their livelihoods Source: The Democratic Republic of the Congo IPC Technical Working Group, June 2017

Impact on food security

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is experiencing a protracted crisis that is rapidly evolving. The conflict, previously mainly affecting eastern provinces, has intensified and expanded causing widespread insecurity and population displacements in , , Ituri, Tanganyika and Haut-Katanga provinces and Kasaï region. In 2017 alone, 1.7 million have fled their homes – more than 5 500 people per day.

The worsening situation has had a dramatic effect on food security, with 7.7 million people severely food insecure compared with 5.9 million during the same period last year. Farmers fleeing from violence – 80 percent of IDPs – have missed three consecutive planting seasons and have lost their productive assets. With the exception of cassava and sweet potatoes, other crops, such as maize, cowpea and rice, have been lost or burnt. By not being able to engage in agricultural activities, trading activities in general have been disrupted as well as local economies.

In addition to fall armyworm outbreaks severely affecting maize production, banana wilt and the cassava brown streak and mosaic, have further deteriorated communities’ food security and nutrition. In various parts of the country, the humanitarian situation has been exacerbated by cholera and measles outbreaks. As a result of the challenges linked to not being able to access animal protein or vegetables, malnutrition rates have I8524EN/1/01.18 severely increased among displaced populations, with about 2 million | children affected by severe acute malnutrition. © FAO, 2018 © FAO,

Alexis Bonte | FAO Representative a.i. | Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo | [email protected] CONTACTS Dominique Burgeon | Director, Emergency and Rehabilitation Division and Strategic Programme Leader – Resilience | Rome, Italy | [email protected] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations